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RpdInNS
06-05-2006 06:51:20
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Re: Rotary Hay Rakes in reply to burnetma, 06-04-2006 19:50:29
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I dunno about that Kuhn price. That sounds about double what it ought to be for a 9-10' rake. We paid about 8-9g canadian for a 14' model about 18 months ago. I don't recall the exact figure off the top of my head. I'm sure there was some year end discount, but it wasn't that far out of line. Somebody's out to rip you with that price. You could also look around for a used Kuhn, which can often be had for 1000-1500 in pretty decent shape.
On the 254, I always found that it did a good job of raking. The only shortcoming it had in raking mode was that it doesn't move the crop between the rotors when it it fully widened out. If you are raking hay that hasn't been tedded, then I found there was always a little strip of hay left on the ground behind the baler, that wasn't centered in the row. It never got moved, and didn't get picked up. If the hay was tedded, this wasn't a problem. It also wasn't a problem in the medium to narrow width setting. The tedder part wasn't the best though. If you used the tedder in the cam setting, it wasn't very aggressive. I was never happy with how that worked. I always flipped the arms up and put it in the conventional tedder mode. That worked well. The main durability problems on the 254 were related to the hangers (NH calles them support welds). They wear out where they pivot on the big roll pin. Once that gets sloppy, the cam followers get torn off because they bottom out in the cam. Then the ends get worn off the tine arms from hitting the back of the cam, the snap ring grooves wear out, then the cams wear out from metal on metal contact. Then the hanger latches start breaking. Then the bushings on the tine arms get worn out. Sooo.... Start at the big roll pins, and make sure they're all tight. Then the cam followers, and make sure they aren't welded on to the tine arms. Check the cams over to make sure they're in good shape, and that they turn when the latch is released. Check the tines over to make sure there's a full set of the same length, and make sure the bushings on those arms are tight, and that there is no lateral play in the arms. They shouldn't drift in and out, but be held steady. There's another little roll pin to hold them in place. That should give you a good guide to checking over a 254. Also check the PTO shaft, but that shouldn't be a problem unless it got some owner abuse. I was never unsatisified with the job that rake did. I was only unsatisfied with the reliability. That said, I am going over 200 acres with it, some more than once a year. It's design was never meant to do that. If mine was new today it would give 5-6 years of trouble free service for what I'm doing. After that, it needs a major tear down and rebuild. The parts were over 3 grand the last time I did that a few years ago. If you get one that's in as new condition in the areas I described, it would likely last you a good long time on 10 acres. That's the scoupe on the 254.....
Anyway, good luck, whatever you decide.Rod
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